


see this ancient riverbed

by Shadowling-guistical (Hit_or_Mish)



Series: Sanders Sides Madoka Magica AU [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Gen, Magical Contracts, Patton us straight not up not having a good time, Puella Magi Madoka Magica References, Puella Magi Madoka Magica UA, Sympathetic Deceit, Thomas is Kyubey, take that as you will, time loops, unsympathetic Thomas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26682007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hit_or_Mish/pseuds/Shadowling-guistical
Summary: “One more time...I just need to do it over one… more time…Hold on everyone. I’ll get it right. I swear I'll get this right.”They were a different type of friends, Patton knew that. Their time together never leads to everlasting happiness. But rather, to ruin, destruction and despair— to other people, to each other, and in some (many) instances, even the world.But Patton, selfish as he is, wouldn’t stand to let everything fall into ruin without a fight. Not this time. And even if it takes tens, hundreds, or thousands of times, he’d do it over and over to give his friends the happy ending they deserved.A Puella Magi Madoka Magica AU.
Relationships: Deceit | Janus Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders & Everyone
Series: Sanders Sides Madoka Magica AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941520
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17
Collections: TSS Fanworks Collective





	see this ancient riverbed

**Author's Note:**

> Heya there! So this title was given by Odaigahara, and for some reason my mind just parkoured straight to a Madoka Magica AU! Which was PERFECT timing since I just started watching the movies as well UwU. Now fans of the anime know of PMMM's..ummm... _reputation_ so uhh....Mind the tags!
> 
> Big thanks to Mouse (@littlebigmouse on Tumblr) and ThalioTP for helping me out with this!
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

LOOP 0

* * *

"J-Janus… Janus please…!!" 

There was a smile when the person in front of Patton turned. Usually, Patton's heart would soar whenever it was directed to him. He would feel safe. Secure. 

Protected. 

Around them, ringing laughter that sounded like the amalgamation of a thousand banshees echoed and ricocheted. The only thing puncturing the horrible sound were the cluster of explosions in the distance getting nearer and nearer every minute. 

But now? That protection only serves to deepen the sinking feeling in his stomach. Patton clutched Logan closer to him. He tried his hardest to ignore the way that his glassy, dull eyes stare up at the smoke filled sky unseeingly. What once was a beautiful blue now a dense swirl of murky grey and purple. The sky was pitch black. 

Logan's bloodied hand was outstretched, trying in vain to reach for a shattered gem some ways away. His rifle was still in Patton’s possession as well. It wouldn’t work now, not with the gem in shards and the user cold and prone on the dusty earth. Spectacles that used to glint whenever Logan was amused lay in pieces just a few feet away from them. 

"You know I can't do that Patton…Logan's dead—" 

The utterly defeated way Janus had said that made Patton's throat close up and tears streak down his grimy cheeks. 

"—And you're not a Magus. There's no one else that can stop Walpurgisnacht but me."

Walpurgisnacht. The Bringer of Helplessness. The accumulation of pain, suffering, and curses that mankind had afflicted towards each other. The most powerful Witch to have ever walked the earth. 

And the only person trying to stop it (able to even stand a chance to stop it) was Janus. 

Only Janus. 

…

His Janus. 

Patton sees Janus' hand tightened around his staff through cracked lenses. Logan's blood seeped through his clothes. It felt cold— so cold—

"N-no!!! We can—!!! We can find other Maguses in the area!!! Please!!! We need to get out of here! YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!" 

"Patton." 

Janus suddenly raised his staff. Instinctively, Patton hunched over Logan's body, intending to shield it as best as he can. Nothing would ever touch Logan again. Not Logan. Who was brilliant and wise and worked harder than _anyone._

Janus must have thought so too, because a sudden gust of wind swept the area. The gem on Janus' gnarled staff began to shine like brilliant sunlight. The ray emitted was blinding, and in any other circumstance, comforting. Numerous snakes made out of yellow light burst out of fissures that marred the scorched earth. They flailed like huge whips, great serpents that rose up into the smoke heavy sky. Higher and higher they went until their maw gaped wide , swallowing the attacks Walpurgisnacht had launched from the distance in one huge gulp. 

The attack was devoured moments before it could hit them huddling below. The conjured serpents warped and swelled up before they burst, destroyed by the power in their attempt to nullify it. Sparks rained down on them like the stars Logan had always loved, but will never see again.

It was moments like these when Patton realized how much of a skilled Magus Janus was.

If Logan could see this, he would have proudly pointed out how far Janus had come from the rookie that Thomas had recruited just a mere month ago. Janus would try to cover up a smile, always pleased to impress a Magus more senior than him.

(“It’s reassuring, to have someone like you on my side,” He had said before, as if a burden that had worthed centuries were slowly being lifted from his shoulders. 

He had been so young, and had protected so many.) 

Slowly, once he was sure that the barrage of attacks had subsided, Janus lowered his staff. 

"Thank you Patton… I… I'm happy that I wouldn't be alone. And...goodbye."

That was it. The moment Patton truly burst into tears. He tried to reach out an arm but it was too late. Janus' smile wobbled, and with a wave of a staff that shone amber, swaying serpentine coils that glowed yellow rose from the earth. It writhed and woven itself around Patton and Logan like a barrier. 

A magical circle bled out beneath them, softly glowing with a gold sheen. Glyphs danced and waltzed across the ground, stopping once it reached its designated place. 

“JANUS!!!!"

Janus didn't look back as he charged towards the enemy in the distance.

* * *

It wasn't long before the coils melted with a shudder. Patton could only watch helplessly as liquid yellow rained around him. 

_(Like the gold of Janus' eyes. Like the sunlight of his gem. Like the straw of his hair.)_

He reached out to touch it, and it slipped right through his fingers. Below his feet, the glyphs slowly fade away, and with it, the magical circle that it held up. 

The barrier made by the world's only vanguard against the Witch was slowly unravelling. And there could only be only one reason why. 

Patton wailed.

* * *

"No...nononono…."

Denial fell on Patton's lips like prayer. He tried shaking Janus' limp body to no avail. Was the chill that he felt on Janus' skin because of the rain around them (when had it rained?) or because he was dead? (No that's not right— because Janus isn't dead— _Couldn't be dead—_ ) 

Like Logan, Janus' staff had rolled away from his hand. And like the sunlight, the gem that was the source of Janus' power was snuffed out. There was no lustre nor shine. Not even the faintest glitter. Only a deep crack splitting the gem right into two. 

(He had tried to heave Logan onto his back and bring him along. But it proved impossible with the way Patton's legs wobbled and stumbled with every step. He had no choice but to leave Logan leaning against a slab of concrete. He took extra care to close his eyes and fold Logan's hands folded over his rifle, sobbing the entire time. It was the least he could do, with all that Logan had done by protecting the city all alone before Janus had become a Magus.

He promised he would return to get him. 

He never did.)

"What a shame…" 

Patton turned, seeing someone lean against a piece of what used to be a radio tower. Patton didn't recognize him. But what he does recognize is the stranger's pink eyes. Large and bright, they shone like polished jewels. 

"T-Thomas…?" Oh. He didn’t know Thomas could take on a human form. The figure disappeared behind the structure and reappeared on the other side as a beautiful iridescent coloured feline. 

Except that this feline had a tail that was a little too fluffy and silky, and adored a rainbow coloured gem on it's back, cut with care to resemble a star. The pristineness of his prismatic pelt was stark contrast from the smog and murkiness that surrounded them. 

"Though it's to be expected…" The leisurely sway of Thomas' tail clashed with the weight held by his words, "No one can take on Walpurgisnacht by themselves after all. It will return soon. And the world will have nothing to protect itself with. Without Logan, he was doomed to fail," 

Something shifted inside Patton's chest, a kind of horror that began settling in the emptiness that he felt, "You knew...So why...Why didn’t you stop him from going?!" 

The tail twitched. That was probably the closest show of irritation that Thomas could have ever displayed 

"There _were_ no other Maguses, Patton," Thomas sounded like an aggravated teacher, tired of explaining the same thing over and over to a stubborn student, "Not anymore. This was their job as a Magus. To destroy witches. And even without Logan, Janus had done his job well. He pushed back Walpurgisnacht even if by only a day." 

(A day? That was it? All that fighting, all that despair and all that strife. And to only buy the world 24 hours. How ridiculous. 

_How cruel._ ) 

Something else came to Patton’s mind. A thought that mutated the feeling inside Patton's chest. The horror he felt grew claws and clenched, drenching him with chills, "T-then… if I were to…"

_If I had been more decisive… If I was a Magus too...then…_

Thomas flounced closer, and sniffed Janus' bowler that came off his head. 

"I called out to you for a reason." Thomas said simply, "If you could hear me, it means you have the potential to be a Magus. But actually deciding to be one and make a contract with me was up to you. I can't do anything that you don't want to,"

Patton's numb fingers clenched around Janus' outfit. 

(That's right. In exchange for a wish, any wish in the world… He had the chance to make a contract with Thomas. That was the preposition Thomas presented all of them with. Receive powers to become a Magus and fight witches like Walpurgisnacht… But he was hesitant. He didn't think he was cut out to be one. Ever since the day Janus and Logan had saved him from a Witch's familiar, it's minion, the only thing he had done is watch their backs from a distance.

And those two… They had been nice to him… Too, too nice…

_"It's alright Patton. You may, as you say, tag along with us to see how Janus and I go on our witch hunts. Just to get a feel of what a Magus' job is,"_

_"You don't have to decide now Pat. It's a big deal after all. And if you do, it’s not like you can’t rely on us."_

_"Patton, no harm shall befall on you whilst Janus and I are here. Trust in us,"_

_"We'll protect you. Just stay right there with Thomas and let us handle it!"_

_"Yes, Being a Magus is… As you say, pretty lit in it's own regard. But it comes with heavy responsibility. Often at the threat of my own life."_

_"I'm glad you're here Patton…")_

In the end, he never decided on a wish. He never became a Magus.

"Can… Can no one defeat it now? Not even if I…" 

On Janus' broken gem, he sees Thomas' reflection. He sees Walpurgisnacht’s in the distance. Patton glanced up and squinted. It was back in hibernation after what Patton hoped was an intense battle. The absence of mirthful laughter made everything eerily quiet somehow. 

"Even if you make your wish now? I doubt it. Logan was a veteran and he was a first to die. A newbie will never stand a chance, even if you have been tagging along them for this past month. No one can do this. Especially if they’re alone," 

The word hung weirdly in Patton's brain. Maybe it was the grief, or the unnerving silence. Maybe Patton himself had lost his mind. But he kept fixating on that word. 

Alone… 

The beginnings of a plan began to form. 

(The gears of destiny began to turn). 

"So…if I weren't alone…" 

Thomas' head tilted, making soft ears flap gracefully. 

"What do you mean, Patton?"

"...I think I know what I want to wish for, Thomas," 

* * *

“I see...Is that truly what you want?”

Patton wiped the grime off his cheek.

He thinks of Logan. The way he would twirl gracefully (almost _dance_ , really,) midair as hundreds, thousands, and millions of rifles fan out around him. Each of the silver firearms firing like a symphony in a feat of sharpshooting no other have come close to replicating before. 

He thinks of Janus. The way that with a flick of a well practised wrist, hundreds, thousands, and millions of yellow translucent snakes would slither out of the earth. Each of them large, with heavy looking coils and fangs dripping with magical venom that striked and bit and _squeezed_ any witch or minion it could get it’s jaw on. 

And then he thinks of himself. Always at the back. Always worried. _Always protected._ That tried with all his might to gather bits and pieces of bravery from every single witch hunt they went on. God, he started to wonder why he even thought it was okay to stand on the side while they fought.

But it was okay. It was okay now. 

Because it was his time to fight.

_He owed it to them._

“I’m sure,” A pause, “...Or can’t I do it?”

Thomas contemplated for a moment before he declared, “...No. You’re powerful enough to make it come true,” He straightened, “Very well. Now... **Patton Foster…** ”

Eyes like Tourmaline began shining, and so did Patton’s chest. Brighter and brighter did they glow, so intensely that Patton soon found it impossible to even open his eyes. Not that he would even if he wanted to. Because Something in him was stirring. It was writhing and singing and burning-

“ **Say it...The wish that you will pay for… _With your soul_ ,**”

* * *

_Just one time...I just need to get it right just one time..Hold on everyone. I’ll get it right. I swear I’ll get it right._

" **My wish is…!!!!** ”

* * *

LOOP 1: BEGIN

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me @shadowling-guistical on Tumblr!


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